Crash
by Kishippe
Summary: When over half the guild is sent on a beach-side mission, the Strauss siblings are no exception! But what happens when the Raijinshuu shows up on their doorstep one night, soaking wet and needing a place to crash? Thunder and lightning, or course! After all, crashing is what thunder does, right? Miraxus! MiraxLaxus, MiLa, whatever you like! Rated T because of reasons!
1. Thunder Storms

**Hey everyone ^^ So, uh, just to start this off, this isn't my first fanfiction, I just made a different account, hehe… My other one was really old, and I kinda feel like it was somehow holding me back… Anyway…**

**Heeeeeeeeey guys! :D Just to let you know, I'm still getting a grip on my writing style, so this may or may not seriously suck! XD Anyway, I've recently been converted to a crazy Miraxus fangirl, and omigosh… OTPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP~ It's just so perfect, I ship it so much! **

**Anywho, like I said, this might suck, but I figured "Practice makes perfect" right? So I just gotta keep writing and I'll hopefully improve for you guys! :D And I'd really like this to be really romantic, but natural, so pardon me if it's slow. And, uh, just as a warning I really can't do anything tooooooooo steamy, 'cause I'm kinda… Young XD But I'll go as far as I can if you guys want me to, 'cause you know I love you guys ;) **

**Anyway, um… Onto the story! …Right? ^^"**

"It smells weird."

Lisanna, the youngest Strauss sibling stuck her nose in the air and took a long whiff, glancing at her older brother and sister.

"It's just the old wood." Mirajane replied, smiling gently as she placed her hand on the walls of the old cabin. "It's probably because we're by the ocean and it gets really humid." Her pale fingers lightly brushed over the hard, rough surface before subconsciously moving to pat her already-frizzing hair. She made a face, feeling that the soft fibers already starting to gain a thin film of perspiration from the ridiculous heat. Hoping that she would turn on a fan, the demon mage flicked on a creamy light switch and glanced around. There was no fan, and the lighting was outdated, but it was bright enough to illuminate the awkward, beach-themed furniture scattered around the living room. A small couch was huddled off to the side, framed by two chairs facing a _fire place_, of all the things, and a splotchy glass coffee table supported several old magazines. There was a miniscule kitchen to the right of the doorway, with barely enough room to do anything besides pivot awkwardly, but Mirajane decided that it would do for at least a few weeks.

"This doesn't feel very much like a mission." Lisanna said, breaking the silence as she lazily fanned herself. Tiny beads of sweat had already started to form on her forehead, and were now trickling down her pale cheeks. "It's more like a bad vacation." The young mage muttered, dragging her feet to the couch and slumping onto the ugly, cerulean cushions. The oldest Strauss giggled before turning slightly and walking over to a small window.

When she brushed away an old, patched blue curtain, the ocean waved at her in the distance. The waves lapped calmly, gently, caressing the white sand romantically.

"It's true." The older mage said softly, pinching her brow together. "Master had most of the guild come out, but it doesn't really seem like we're needed." She mumbled, referring to the tourist they had seen on their way to the cabin. Supposedly there was a powerfully violent dark guild somewhere near the beachside resort, and its members had been indiscriminately attacking the visitors, leaving major injuries in their wake. Over half of Fairy Tail had been sent out to keep watch over the resort, including all S-class mages, which lumped in the takeover siblings. However, nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary besides the terrified employees.

Glancing out the window again, Mirajane noticed a string of inky clouds lined up like hungry soldiers, slowly eating away at the setting sun. She sensed rain.

The demon mage let out a quick sigh, shaking her snowy head and letting her long, damp curls bounce happily. Hearing a whine behind her, she raised her brow and turned to her younger siblings, who were both sprawled out on the couch, their mouths hanging open like dogs as they tried in vain to fan themselves.

The older demon smiled at them and giggled, picking up her suitcase and making her way over to a small hallway. "I'm going to go set up my room, okay?" She said sweetly, earning two miserable grunts in reply. She smiled at them once again, her brow furrowed slightly at their pitifulness, before she disappeared from the room.

Once the oldest Strauss was gone, Elfman pulled himself from the couch and stretched, a large yawn escaping him.

"Real men make their beds quickly!" He roared, throwing his suitcase over his shoulder and stomping down the hall.

Lisanna shook her head, smiling gently after her older brother. After climbing off of the cushions, the youngest Strauss arched her shoulders and stretched, heaving a big yawn as she bent down and touched her toes, several drips of sweat trickling down the ends of her hair. With a grimace, she straightened herself up and wiped her brow, walking over to her small suitcase and rummaging through it for some cooler clothes. She froze as her ears picked up the distinct sound of a bath being filled, and a grin plastered itself on her weary face. She stood, letting the clothing fall from her hands as she rocketed down the hall after her siblings.

"Me first, Mira!"

_Meanwhile….._

Evergreen sat, regrettably, on a sky colored couch against the wall, very similar to the one in the Strauss cabin. Night had fallen and the light from the small lamp beside her was glistening on her slender, damp legs. Her brow was scrunched and her glasses were resting on the tip of her nose, angled towards an old book she had invested herself in. In her other hand was her fan, pulsing up and down as the fairy mage attempted to cool herself. To her right, Freed was polishing his sword, his back erect with only the most perfect posture, and Bixlow was stand shirtless, in the kitchen, playing with his 'babies' and making a sandwich. Laxus was in the bath.

Suddenly, a low rumble of thunder growled from the above them, and the Raijinshuu cabin shook violently, creaking and squeaking in all the wrong places. Evergreen raised her brow, her sharp eyes wandering lazily from her book to the quivering ceiling as she snapped her book shut and closed her fan. Freed and Bixlow glanced around idly, abandoning their individual endeavors.

"I swear that wasn't me!" Boomed a loud voice from the hall.

Freed stood, a small smile tugging at the sleeves of his lips. "Laxus! Why, we'd never assume you were responsible for such ruckus. You're thunder is controlled; a beautiful symphony!"

Evergreen snorted.

The blonde dragon slayer cracked a grin, rubbing a towel around his electric locks as he shuffled over to the couch and plopped down next to Ever. There was a lull in conversation, and the sound of rain drops throwing themselves against the wooden roof of their cabin echoed through the small room, bouncing around the ugly furniture.

Just as Freed was about to break the silence, a sly little droplet landed on the bridge of his nose. The rune mage's mouth clamped shut, his eyes tracing the droplets path back up to the old ceiling.

Another drop fell, this time hitting Evergreen's glasses.

Another drop.

Another.

Too many.

Laxus made a face and looked up at the now soaking roof.

"Well, crap."

…

Mira was laying in her bed, peacefully teetering on the edge of sleep when a crack of thunder broke out, followed by several thumps inside the cabin. Immediately, the demon mage was up, sitting stoutly in the middle of the bed, her eyes wild and alert as she glanced around the room.

"M-Mira…"

Silhouetted by the dim hall light, Elfman and Lisanna stood under the door frame, their shadows looming over their older sister's room. The edge of their features caught the half-light, illuminating the fear and worry on their faces as another crack of thunder echoed, making both the snowy haired siblings shudder.

Elfman whimpered once again, his lip curled cutely as he stared into his older sister's eyes. "Mira…"

The demon mage smiled sympathetically at her younger siblings, letting out a sigh as she shook her head nostalgically. "You two never change…" She breathed, an odd hint of happiness flowing from her melodic voice as she scooted to one side of the bed, smiling brightly at her siblings.

The younger Strauss siblings breathed a sigh of relief as they swarmed into their big sister's room, their eyes sparkling with relief.

Lisanna climbed into the plush bed, which creaked and groaned beneath the added weight as she snuggled closely to her oldest sibling, who petted her head fondly. Elfman walked to the other side of the mattress, kneeling down on the floor and folding his arms over the edge of the bed, before laying his large head down in the nook of his elbow and looking admiringly up at his older sister, who laid back only after making sure her siblings were situated.

The demon mage placed a hand on each of their heads reassuringly and ran her fingers through their damp hair, smiling warmly as she closed her eyes and let out a long, slow breath. It had been too long since they'd run to her, hiding from the thunder in the middle of the night. She had missed the feeling of protecting them from their own fears, of being the person they relied on. They had both been growing up so quickly, she hardly had time to keep up.

_Too quickly…_ She thought with a sigh.

There was a knock at the door.

For the second time that night, the demon mage was alert, as were the other members of the Strauss family. For a minute, they assumed it was just the storm, and the sound of rain did its best to comfort them, but before long another knock echoed through the cabin, an eerie pulse in the dark. Mirajane slid her slim, exposed legs off of the bed and furrowed her brow, silently creeping down the hall and into the living room. Behind her was the reassuring sound of familiar feet, and she couldn't help but smile at the comforting feeling of their auras.

However, the eldest Strauss didn't have any time she felt like wasting, so she put on her best demon-face, let out a breath, and swung open the door.

She deadpanned.

In the small doorway was a dripping, irritated Raijinshuu, standing on the small porch like an old, wet, angry cat someone had thrown in the rain. Laxus leaned over and rested his arm on the doorway, his face coming dangerously close to the demon mage's. He had on his best toothy grin, his eyebrows quirked confidently, although there was the oddest timid fringe in his voice as he locked eyes with the demon.

"Mind if we crash her for tonight?"

Crash. That's what thunder did, right?

**Okaaaaaaay…. So, I really wish this had turned out better, and I'm suuuper sorry for the slow start! I promise it'll have way more Miraxus in the next chapter, I just didn't wanna rush stuff too much, y'know? I wish I could write better for you guys, I really do, but I'll keep trying my best, 'kay? :D Any type of review is welcome, and thanks for reading! J **

**~Kishi**


	2. Mountains and Honey-moons

**Hey everyone! Gosh, thank you all so much for your support~ It means a ton to me :D I'm really excited to write this story, and I'm sorry for the slow beginning, but the Miraxus is comin' in full force, y'all XD **

**Anywho, I'm rather excited to say that I'm starting to snuggle back into my writing style, and even though it's still not great, I feel like I can finally improve :D **  
**Thank you, Miraxus! XD**

After a rather eventful night, Mirajane crept from her room to find four randomly thrown together 'beds' sprawled out around the small living room floor of her cabin. Three of them were alive, gently moving up and down with the breathing of their owners, but the one farthest to the back of the room was cold and empty.

It would be cruel to ignore that, right?

With a sigh, the demon mage took a quick head count, spotting every type of hair and helmet there was to spot except for the spiky, yellow thunder head. She heaved another sigh, this one much bigger than the first, and turned on her heel towards the door. For a moment, she questioned leaving her two younger siblings alone with the Thunder Legion hanging around, but one glance at the three mages burrowed under their blankets and drooling reassured her that they would be fine... As long as they didn't start arguing. So, without looking back she curled her pale fingers around the cold door knob and slowly creaked it open, slipping out with hardly a sound to tell where she'd gone.

Immediately the smell of the ocean hit her, along with a few punches of early-morning sunlight. The demon mage squinted her eyes at the glow and looked around, searching for any sign of the thunder dragon.

The aftermath of the storm had bathed the a cool, crisp color. Above the mage there were swirls of blue and grey, twisting and crashing into each other, their colors reflected on the ocean in front of her. The sand was alive with the light, its white grain sparkling like millions of little stars poking through the night as the eldest Strauss continued narrowing her eyes in pursuit of the familiar yellow head. To be honest, she wasn't totally sure why she'd come out looking for him. A large part of her was worried that he was out causing trouble, harassing girls or maybe blowing something up. Another part of her, however (one that she really didn't want to admit was there) was genuinely curious about why he'd go off on his own like that. As far as Mirajane had been able to tell, after his return to the guild the dragon slayer had wanted to spend more time with his team and make up for lost training time or something like that. Lost training time usually didn't include going off alone in the wee hours of the morning, though.

After several minutes of searching, the demon mage spied a distinctly electric crop of hair sitting in the sand in the distance, along with several early-morning tourist playing volleyball on the beach a few feet away. The wind ruffled the eldest Strauss's snowy hair as she let out a sigh and tucked a stand behind her ear, trudging her way towards the ocean, towards the dragon slayer. Her slender legs moved quickly; she didn't want to waste any more time on him. Plus, she was starting to get a little worried about exactly what would happen back at the cabin if it was discovered that the two of them were gone. Or, more specifically, what the others would be thinking.

When she finally reached the dragon slayer, her feet subconsciously stopped moving and she froze, directly behind him. He was sitting quietly in the sand, the furry collar of his coat waving in the wind like an old flag with knees curled loosely near his chest, spread out in a relaxed way. His elbows rested on their caps lazily, with his rough fingers tightly intertwined in front of him, white-knuckled and tense. Quirking her brow, the demon mage traced his line of vision up to a red-headed young girl in a scarlet bikini, her slender body glistening with sweat as she laughed with her friends; the ones playing volleyball. Mirajane grimaced and rolled her eyes, planting her pants sharply on her hips and walking around to the right of the dragon slayer. He caught sight of her and turned slightly, raising his brow in her direction.

"Enjoying the view?" She asked coldly, her normally sweet voice dipped in venom. She wasn't totally sure why she had decided to be hostile toward him, but she felt like the thunder mage deserved some sort of punishment for oogling so early in the morning. At least wait until after breakfast.

The dragon slayer looked up at her, his brow raised in surprise for a moment before a smirk crept onto his scarred face. "Yeah, it's pretty well endowed." His grinned widened, exposing his sharp, white teeth.

Mira scoffed and pursed her lips, staring intently into the eyes of the dragon slayer. To her surprise, he broke her gaze and almost timidly turned back to face the ocean, his lips curled into a frown. The demon mage studied him for a moment, her eyes glazing over the deep, concerned crease in his brow. Exactly _what_ went on in that thick head of his? At that moment she could've sworn that he almost looked like he actually regretted what he'd said, although that was unlikely. For some reason, the oldest Strauss had come to terms with and excepted every member of the Thunder Legion _except_ the spiky haired dragon slayer. She didn't really know why, but she had such insanely mixed feelings about him she could've made a cake with the batter. He had turned his back when they needed him, and then caused the guild so much pain, but at the same time he'd saved them all when they needed him _most_. He was part of the guild, part of their family. She could except that, couldn't she?

Only if she had to.

"Actually," He said, ripping the demon mage from her thoughts with a surprisingly calm voice. "I was looking at the ocean. It was just my fantastic luck that red hair over there jumped in front of me when you showed up." He said dryly, half smirking to himself as his eyes scanned the horizon. The demon mage felt her expression soften slightly as the dragon slayer turned to face her again, his brow cocked confidently. "We're here for a reason, right? I came to watch out for these idiot visitors. Just because they happen to be gorgeous girls bouncing around ain't my fault." He laughed lightly, his grin fading as he turned to face the waves once again.

Mira looked at him sympathetically, her cerulean eyes bubbling with guilt and surprise. _"He came to do_ _the mission?"_ It felt way to impossible. Laxus Dreyar was being responsible? There was a pause before the demon mage smiled warmly, looking down at the electric head below her with an odd sense of pride. "Well," She said, quickly regaining her bubbliness. "You haven't had breakfast yet, right? You should come back to the cabin. You left with out saying anything; the others might be worried."

Laxus chuckled. "Nah, I taught them a long time ago that worrying about me is useless. I can handle myself just fine. _They_ should worry about themselves." He stood, brushing off his knees and arching his back in a stretch. "But you..." He started. "You, uh..." He deadpanned at the arched eyebrow look she was shooting him."You're little kiddies won't be too happy." He grinned and turned in the direction of the cabin, shoving his hands dejectedly in his pockets.

The demon mage sighed and trudged after him, just barely catching his grin morph into a frown once again. He looked almost annoyed, and the small portion of his face she could see from behind had become a mixture of self-disappointment and annoyance. However, the oldest Strauss couldn't help be feel successful, if only a little bit. After all, she had moved the almighty dragon slayer. She had figured that when, and if, she found him, he would refuse to come back to the cabin, not willingly stroll along the beach-side path.

Laxus Dreyar was one of many things, one of them being stupidly stubborn and rock-like. Moving him was like moving, well... a mountain, really.

The rest of the walk was spent in silence, and the two S-classes mages completely absorbed in their own little thoughts. When they entered the cabin, however, they were greeted by several long snores, along with Evergreen's sharp eyes prodding them from her place on the couch. Her book was once again nestled in her hand, her pale legs crossed sternly and her brow raised. A smile tugged at her lips.

"On your honeymoon already?" She droned, her tone as dry as the sand falling off of Laxus's shoes. The dragon slayer was annoyed at first, but then his face split into a grin.

"Mira here was just chasing after me to confess her undying love. I always knew she had the hots for me, though." He chuckled, a stupid smirk plastered on his scarred face. Behind him, though, Mirajane's mouth was hanging open in shock, her brow creasing dangerously as she clenched her pale fist at her sides.

With a quick humph, she blew passed the dragon slayer and into the kitchen, busying herself with breakfast and going at pots and pans with a vengeance. Laxus raised his hand after her, his eyes wide with regret and his mouth forming soundless words as he groped for her attention, but he gave up quickly. After all, why should he apologize? Dragons were creatures of habit, even bad ones. He didn't need to apologize for being himself, right? Even though he _didn't want to be that way anymore._

From the couch, Ever shook her head, her eyes shut in thought.

After several minutes, the electric-headed dragon slayer turned and disappeared back to the outside, leaving only the hollow echo of the door and the ghost of his swishing, furry coat.

This time, Mira didn't go after him.

Before much longer, another door softly closed from down the hall and the youngest of the Strauss siblings appeared, rubbing her eyes sleepily, but still smiling warmly when she spotted her sister. As she walked over to the demon mage, being sure to take great care in stepping over the legs and wooden dolls scattered around the floor, she felt a chill wafting around the older girl in the kitchen and furrowed her brow worriedly. There was a great magic aura around the woman, the same one she got when in her demon form, only it was heavily tinted with disappointment.

"Sis?"

Mira blinked, her head shooting up from the small frying pan she had been focusing on. At the sound of her little sister's voice, all traces of displeasure fell from her face, leaving only a weary but still warm smile in their path. The demon mage set down her cooking utensils and brushed her hands on the simple sundress she had picked out as she took a step towards her sister. "I'm sorry, Lisanna," She said gently, running her hand through the young takeover mage's short, white hair. "Did Laxus wake you?" Her tone turned cool at the dragon slayers name, although the ice only peeked through. She wouldn't let it show just yet.

The youngest Strauss shook her head, smiling slightly. "No." She scrunched up her brow and narrowed her eyes. "Why, did something happen? You seem upset, sis. You know you can tell me..." She moved a little closer to the demon mage, as if to reassure her statement. Mira only smiled sweetly and kissed her little sister's cheek fondly, turning back to her cooking which was now popping and sizzling wildly.

"Breakfast is almost ready." She chimed. "Why don't you go wake the boys?"

Lisanna nodded, trying to reassure herself that there was nothing wrong with the older demon mage. What she didn't see, however, was the mountain her older sister was leaning against.

...

After a short, rushed meal, the remaining three members of the Thunder Legion (along with the Strauss family) headed out to explore the resort and check the progress of the repairs on their cabin. After chatting with an extremely nervous employee, they had been told that the water damage was "severe" and repairs could take up to several weeks, which left them to search for Laxus and decide their next course of action. The Strauss's had graciously agreed to accompany them, although Mira was still battling with some, well... Some seriously pissed off feelings. She really wasn't sure what to think of the stupid, electric dragon slayer, and frankly she didn't know why she was even trying to figure it out. He had seemed to gentle, so caring, so _vulnerable_ when she had found him on the beach, his normally beady eyes filled with honesty, and for just a moment she had allowed herself to except him as a changed person. However, his attitude in the cabin had flipped the demon mage's approval upside down, and she was completely miffed at him and his stupid, toothy grin.

Hence the pissed off.

...

After about an hour of aimlessly wandering around after the dragon slayer, the six Fairy Tail mages had stopped in a small forest clearing just under half a mile from the beach to rest after the intense heat had sucked up both their energy and their spirit. What the sun didn't bother drinking up, though, was the sweat pouring off their temples and trickling down their necks.

With a groan, Lisanna folded her hands behind her head loosely and closed her eyes, letting out a tired sigh and arching her slender neck. "We've been looking for Laxus for hours!" She exagerated. "Can't we just go to the beach for now?" She whined, the neck strap of her black bikini pointedly peek-a-boo-ing out of her dully yellow shirt and waving it's ends around in the air.

"Beach! Beach!" Bixlow's babies echoed, floating around the moist heads of the mages.

Elfman made a face at the little dolls, his thick brow arching in their direction. "A real MAN doesn't complain about not going to the beach!" He said, earning a huff from Evergreen, who was busy fanning herself. Her hazel hair was glued to her forehead, little droplets hanging off the tips.

"You big oaf; I swear there's nothing but empty space inside that thick skull of yours." She droned, her eyes shut and her lip curling to one side as she spoke, her thin eyebrows quirking awkwardly as sweat trickled around them.

Elfman stood up, his fist clenched intensely in front of him as he let out a battle cry and faced the fairy mage. "A real MAN would never take insults from some stupid woman!" He roared, rushing towards Evergreen with his beast arm drawn back. The fairy mage jumped from her place nimbly, leading the male Strauss to slam his 'thick skull' into the rock she had been resting on. Freed, Bixlow and Lisanna watched in half annoyance, half amusement. They were bored, and this was their entertainment.

What ensued was lost on Mirajane, however, as she had picked up on powerful magical auras somewhere nearby and was already straying from the group and trudging deeper into the forest.

Before she realized how far away she'd gotten, she had succumbed to an eerie, forest-like silence and was creeping around bushes in pursuit of the oddly familiar presence.

A grunt broke the still air, shattering it around the demon mages feet. Her pace quickened, and before she knew it she was running towards the sound.

The magical energy became a song, slow and powerful.

It called to her.

It sung to her.

It was so gentle that she wanted to run her fingers through it's hair and smile at it.

It was _vulnerable. _

Within a few seconds, the oldest Strauss reached another small clearing, this on much more condensed then the last. The air was salty and wet, and she could hear waves dangerously close to the forest; gentle, powerful.

A body thumped at her feet, the unconscious form of a mage. There was a hood over his face, and his limp body spread out pitifully before the demon as her eyes traced the familiar magical feeling up to an electric crop of hair, the sweat and blood mixing and staining over the yellow locks in an ocean of swirling and dirty red.

A toothy grin.

"Hey Mira."

**Welp, I've been wanting to make longer chapters, but I dunno... I guess I'll just let them come naturally ^^" This is crazy fun to write, so thank you guys tons for reading! Your support keeps me going when I want to nap :) **

**I hope the ending there didn't suck too much. I'm writing at like, 3:00am and my brain is fried, haha...**

**Ha. Anyway, thanks again you guys, and see you next chapter! :D **  
**~Kishi**


	3. Cling

**Heyo~! What's up guys? You beautiful people have been giving me so much support I can't not update :) Thank you all so much for bearing with me while I figure this thing out. I love writing it so much, I just hope I don't start getting sloppy. This chapter is a little shorter than the last because I wanted to get it out to you guys quickly. Oh! And I'm sorry to you guys who are waiting for the romance! I want this to be nice and natural, you know? And I know it doesn't hafta be as slow as two people who just randomly meet, 'cause they've know each other for a while, but I still don't wanna rush it too much ^^"** **Oh, yeah, and I guess it's "The Thunder God Tribe"? I watched some episodes where it was subbed as "Thunder Legion", though**... **I don't really love mixing English and Japanese, but I guess I'll use Raijinshuu until I figure this out XD**

Laxus smirked, although his brow was quirked in what Mirajane could only assume was the after effects of whatever battle he had been in. He was on his knees, his large hands pressed against the ground as he supported himself. There was dirt caked under his nails and smeared on his face, dark patches of earth mixing with blood and sweat. A distinctly red and murky droplet fell from his head and down around his cheek, tracing his jaw line down before slowly trickling down the strained tenons in his neck. When his eyes met the wide saphire orbs of the white haired mage before him, they were dull and glassy with bright red vains creeping from their corners due to the sweat that continued to pour into them, but filled with intense fire.

The demon mage put a hand over her pale, doll-like lips. "Laxus..." She breathed.

The dragon slayer "tched" and placed his hands on his knee caps as he pushed himself into a sitting position and cradled the left side of his abdomen protectively. Several light brown scuffs of dirt decorated his already scarred face, some of them pridefully hiding tiny scratches. "Chasing after me again, yeah?" He grinned, his tone smooth and cocky but strained.

Mirajane sighed and keeled down in front of him, feeling the irritation flow from her heart and get replaced by something along the lines of empathy.

Silence slipped into the air as the demon mage tilted her head to the side and scrunched up her thin white eyebrows sympathetically, a warm and tender smile spread out on her damp face. Her cerulean irisis glittered with something distinctly unplaceable and the lightning mage felt the slightest flush of heat spread over his face, although he would never admit it.

"Well, you seem like you need to be chased after." Her voice was light and cool, like milk. He drank it up.

For a moment, the dragon slayer could only stare, caught by the serenity in the oldest Strauss's glassy features as she smiled at him, her pale lips curling gently as a bullet of sweat rolled around them.  
But he really couldn't stay still for long, you know.

"I can't help it," He said arrogantly, smirking. A pang of regret went through him when he realized what he was doing, but at that point he just really couldn't help himself.

"It's just nataural for women to be drawn to me, ain't it, Mira?"

The demon mage recoiled for a bit before her blue eyes narrowed suspiciously and her face contorted into an annoyed scoff. The snowy haired woman stood, brushed off her pale dress and stared down darkly at the dragon slayer as a heavy dark aura surrounded her. The lightning mage looked away, upset with himself as he ran a dirty hand through his damp hair. Before he knew what had happened, however, a burst of magic went off to the side of him and a surprisingly cold arm wrapped under his shoulder, hauling him out of the dirt and into a standing position. Wide eyed, he looked to the owner of the arm, a white haired demon standing stiffly to his side, her sharp eyes fixated in front of her. He stared, dumbfounded. The demon had his muscular arm wrapped around her shoulders, one hand clutching his wrist and the other curled around his damp back for support. His weight was shift towards her, their hips pressed together tightly. He could feel her tail swishing behind them, brushing the back of his leg every now and then. Their faces were dangerously closer, and the sound of short burst of breath flowing freely from her flaring nostrils was eminent. _"She's pissed."_ He thought idly.

It was hotter with the two of them so close, and as the demon started walking forward Laxus could do nothing but silently comply and hope he didn't tick her off any more than he already had. He was no match for a full-powered demon in his current state.

Behind them, she could hear employees shouting as they discovered the unconscious mage.

After a few minutes they were both panting, their body heat and bulk slow-roasting them in the dense forest. His skin rubbed against the now barely clothed demon, clinging and dragging over her pale, slim waist and mixing their sweat together. The dragon slayer had started to slip, and was now almost doubled over as his long, bulky arm stretched around white, sticky hair. He looked up to the once barmaid, her dark lips parted and her brow furrowed intently as her large, damp breast heaved with each breath. He grinned. "Maybe I should piss you off more often. This could become a nice hobby." He breathed wearily, raising his head slightly to watch the demon's expression. To his surprise her features didn't budge, and he felt guilty.

The rest of their walk was spent in silence; the demon slowly pulling along her dragon.

...

Back at the clearing, Elfman was sprawled out on the ground, his eyes spinning with Evergreen seated calmly on his back, her legs crossed and her fan pulsing against her damp face. She patted the muscular Strauss's white head, smiling coyly down at his blank expression as she let out a prim 'hmph'. To their right, equally white hair was gently swishing back and forth as the youngest of the Strauss siblings paced up and down the clearing, her arms crossed over her chest and her eyes staring intently at the ground in front of her.

"Don't worry about them, dear." Evergreen said, her cool voice dripping slyly.

From a few feet away, Freed nodded, his long green hair glued to his face. "She's right. We often underestimate the strength of those close to us, but I'm sure that both Mirajane and Laxus are on their way back to us now." His tone was confident, and regal as always.

The young takeover mage crinkled up her brow, folding her hands together at her waist and chewing her lip nervously. "Yeah, I know they'll be fine, it's just-" She was cut of by a lanky yet strong arm flinging itself over her shoulder.

"Whoa girly! Ya gotta remember how your big sis used to beat the crap out of everyone when we were kids! She didn't take shit from anyone." Bixlow grinned, his tongue hanging out as usual, exposing his dark guild mark while he squished the young takeover mage against the crook of his neck.

The Strauss quirked her brow, laughing nervously as the soul mage's wooden babies floated playfully around her head.

"From anyone! From anyone!" They echoed.

"I don't know about that, Bixlow." A sweet voice called form the edge of the clearing. All eyes snapped in the direction of a very sweaty, very tired looking Mirajane (who had shifted out of her Satan Soul form to keep from arousing suspicion) and a certain electric headed dragon slayer hanging off of her shoulders. Her knees were crooked under his weight, the added strength form her demon form gone, although she kept up a gentle and almost goofy smile as the other five mages rushed to remove the muscular man from her support. The Raijinshuu carried him off deeper into the clearing to dote on him, leaving the two younger Strauss's to fawn over their sister, who smiled at them lovingly.

Elfman's eyes shown brightly as he looked down on the demon mage proudly. "Big sis is a real MAN!" he boomed, a goofy grin smeared on his face. From the opposite side of the clearing Evergreen scoffed.

Ignoring her older brother, Lisanna threw her slender arms around her older sister's neck, pancaking the demon mage's already flat hair. "Geez, you had me worried." She breathed in the barmaids ear, snuggling her face deeper into the crook of her sibling's neck. Mira's eyes widened before relaxing as she smiled warmly, reaching her hand up and placing it on the back of the young takeover mage's head. She began to run her fingers through the short white hair fondly, gently combing out small tangles.

"Hey," She said softly, pulling away from her younger sister and resting her hands on mage's shoulders, smiling reassuringly. "That's my line." She smiled warmly for a moment, her saphire eyes shining bright and happy, filled with nostalgia. But something caught her attention from across the clearing and a shadow went over her gentle features as she furrowed her brow, glancing over her youngest siblings shoulder.

On a large rock directly across from from the demon mage, a certain electric dragon was sitting lazily, his legs sprawled out over the edge of the rock and his arms tucked behind him for support. His shirt was off, exposing his rough, muscular chest. Drips of sweat trickled down his abdomen, tracing the sharp outlines and curves of his muscles. Evergreen and Freed were hovering over him, examining the deep, fleshy gnash in his side with grimaces glued to their damp faces. Laxus looked almost pitiful there, like he was trying,_ really trying_ to crack a stupid grin, but couldn't because his teeth were gritted from the salty sweat dripping into his wound. Across from him, Mira smiled sympathetically and shook her head as Lisanna moved to talk with Bixlow, who was hanging back and observing the scene. The demon mage sighed before unconsciously making her way to the other side of the clearing, grimacing as the dragon slayer surrpressed a cry of pain.

Evergreen looked up from Laxus's injured side, her brow raised. "Now, now. Don't be a baby." She rang, chuckling lightly to herself.

Just as the dragon was about to fire back, he was cut short by a small, pale hand gently resting on his knee. Slack-jawed, he looked up, and was greeted by a softly smiling demon.

Both Freed and Evergreen raised their brows.

Ignoring them, the dragon slayer forced out a smirk. "What's up, Mira? I-" He winced, whatever stupid thing he was about to say now trapped inside his mouth. The demon had to suppress a giggle before she straightened herself, her hand slipping off the dragon slayer's knee and falling softly to her side, much to Laxus's disappointment. The oldest Strauss ignored him, though, and instead turned her attention to Freed and Evergreen, who were busy pretending to be busy and really just trying to listen in on the two S-class mages. They looked up to the demon, feigning obliviousness.

"I have bandages back at the cabin." She smiled sweetly. "I can take him back if you five want to go to the beach. I know Lisanna has been waiting, and there's no reason for all of us to be stuck at home."

Freed stood, about to object, but Ever pulled him back down and nodded, straightening her glasses. "That would be fine. We need to watch out for the tourist anyway." Her tone was cold, but deviously full of mirth. From beside her, Freed fidgeted awkwardly, clearly wanting to stay with the dragon slayer but not wanting to face the haughty fairy mage's wrath. Evergreen patted his green head condescendingly before a thought struck her and she rolled her shoulders uncomfortably, looking back to the demon. "Are you sure you can... Carry him?" She stifled.

Without missing a beat, a powerful burst of magic shot out and dissipated, leaving behind Mirajane in her Satan Soul form, her tail swishing with amusement. "I think I can handle it." She sung, her voice much deeper and intimidating than before.

Evergreen nodded dumbly as her feet fumbled to take a step back. "A-Alright, then." She swallowed, straightening her glasses once again as a blushed formed on her pale cheeks.

It wasn't everyday she faced a demon.

The eldest Strauss nodded and bent down to wrap Laxus's arm around her shoulders for the _second_ time that day (too many times) and hauled him off the rock, her left arm tightly wrapped around his sweaty, bare chest. He stared at her, dumbfounded, before catching her eyes on him. A smirk found its way to his lips and he chuckled lightly. "Oh, Miss Mirajane wants some alone time with me, eh? I can see why you wouldn't want your baby siblings around." His voice was cracking pitifully, but somehow he had managed to evolve his smirk into a grin and this did not amuse the demon. So, as innocently as she could, she shifted her weight to one side, tugging ever-so-slightly on Laxus's injured side. The dragon slayer started to cry out, but suppressed it quickly as Mirajane slipped back into a more comfortable position. She did note, however, that his stupid grin had disappeared.

The demon smiled before turning in the direction of their cabin and taking a few steps forward. Despite what she told her self, she was in a hurry to be alone with the dragon slayer. Not for dirty reason, but because she would have a much easier time with him when there were no members of his team around for him to 'impress'. Plus, she knew Elfman would never let her go with him alone, and Lisanna would want to know everything that was going on with them, but the oldest Strauss wanted her younger siblings to enjoy themselves as much as possible _without_ wondering if their big sister was getting into... _trouble._ It was surprisingly easy to sneak away from them, however, as Lisanna was distractedly playing with Bixlow's soul tiki things and Elfman was arguing with Evergreen and Freed over which part of the beach to go to. From the edge of the clearing, Mirajane giggled. They really were growing up a little _too_ fast.

...

After a wonderfully quiet and easy walk back to the cabin (every time Laxus had tried to say something snide Mira would either 'trip' or stop abruptly) the two S-class mage's came to a halt in front of the small, wooden porch steps and Mira changed back from her demon form, stumbling slightly from the suddenly heavy dragon slayer. They both held onto either side of the wooden railing and pulled themselves up the steps, which creaked and groaned loudly under their feet.

After a bit of struggle opening the door, a wave of hot air crashed into them from the stuffy cabin and Mira hauled the electric headed mage inside, a demon taking her dragon through the gates of hell.

After kicking the door shut behind them, Mira laid the dragon slayer down in the middle of the living room on one of the many sleeping mats and disappeared down the hall. When she came back, her arms were loaded with rolls of gauze and bottles of who knows what, and her blue eyes were happily twinkling in a way that scared the dragon slayer more than any of her demon looks.

Her face turned serious as she knelt down next to him and set down her supplies, and Laxus couldn't help but crack a grin at her furrowed brow and intense look of concentration. "This isn't exactly how I pictured us in bed together." He smirked. Mira paused for a moment and looked at him with cold concern before she continued mixing together a small bowl of two medical goos she had conjured up. Despite the dragon slayer's attitude, she could see in his eyes that he was totally drained. It made her feel almost bad for him. Almost.

After a pause she turned back to him, her face still cold and unchanged. "Laxus," She said, her serious tone wiping the tired smirk off his face. Once she was sure she had his attention, she continued. "What were you doing fighting that mage alone? Was he part of the dark guild? Master told us that they were very powerful. You shouldn't have gone by yourself, you could've been hurt much worse than this." Her tone was gentle, but stern and full of power. The dragon slayer blinked dumbly. _She's worried about_ _me?_ He thought with a slight smirk. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back, his still bare stomach softly rising and falling as he mulled over the echoes of her silky voice. It was her sigh that ripped him from his musings. "Just promise me you won't do it again, alright? You're part of the guild, Laxus. You don't need to be alone."

The dragon slayer froze, his eyes widening slightly as he looked up to snowy haired mage, who's cerulean irises were literally _alive_ with concern. The lightning mage could only stare dumbly, his face all shades of odd, almost... admiration. He had never seen quite so much care and love built up in one person. It was _beautiful._

He shook his head, smiling without smirking for once. "Yeah." He said quietly. "I think I get that now."

**Whew! Okay, there's chapter three :3 It'll get a little more romantic next chapter when nurse Mira comes in ;) Haha... For now, thank you all so much fro your support! It keeps me going ;) I'm actually really surprised at all the views this thing is getting... I don't deserve thisssssssss~ *Rolls around in Miraxus feels* **  
**~Kishi**


	4. Very Not Sorry

**Hi guys! I'm so sorry for the late update; especially after how nice all of you are being to me! L I guess I got distracted by Christmas and stuff… I-I didn't even realize how much time had passed ^^"" But, here it is! And I'll be sure to work harder for you guys in the future ^w^ **

**Oh, yeah, and I guess I haven't done this yet, sooo…**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything, guys. ****_I'm just a poor girl, I need no sympathyyyyyyy~_**

Somewhere on some random beach, Evergreen, Bixlow, Freed and the younger two Strauss siblings were locked in an intense game of volleyball. Sweat glistened on their exposed skin in the yellow-orange glow of the sunset and their chests heaved with each breath.

From somewhere suspiciously close to their shared cabin, a few birds flew from the trees. Evergreen turned and raised her brow, watching them fly off into the darkening sky. The rest of the group followed her gaze.

"Did you hear something?"

….

"Laxus Dreyar! Stop being such a baby! Mavis herself could probably hear that scream!"

"Goddamnit, woman! You're going to kill me!"

"If you would just hold still for a _few seconds _it would be over!"

Laxus looked up as best he could from his place stomach-down on the floor while his face got squished into the old wooden boards by a certain small, pale hand.

Above him, Mirajane hand her knee resting carefully on the lower part of his back, both to support herself and to keep the dragon slayer bellow her from squirming while she worked on cleaning his wounds (which was proving to be more difficult then she'd thought).

Somewhere in the chaos, the demon had placed her hand on top of the Laxus's spikey head and was using it as support, smashing his face into the ground while her free hand worked on spreading some weird medical goo over his large back. The dragon slayer did his best to cope with this, however, once he realized that one of the main components of the demon's medicine was alcohol, his self-control had quickly faded away, and his red face was now getting acquainted with the floor, which wasn't very good at muffling his yells of displeasure. Above him, Mira was doing her very best to ignore his feelings completely.

_Damnit. _The dragon slayer thought. _This is one hell of a way to get revenge… I swear to god, Mira, I ain't gonna back down. _His teeth gritted at this, and he curled his muscled neck in so that his face was smashed further into the floor as he held in a yelp, his sweat starting to puddle and smear around him. His eye widened when he felt something warm and soft press against middle of his back and he turned to get the best look he could, his pain temporarily forgotten.

At first, all he got was a face-full of long, drippy, white fibers that smelled distinctly like sweet alcohol and flowers mixed with sweat, which despite being as weird a smell as ever, somehow managed to calm the lightning dragon slayer into stillness for a few seconds. After that, however, he puckered up his lips and let out a big a puff as he could muster, which sent to snowy locks flying out of his way to cling to the sweat-soaked back of their owner. What he saw then made him stare, unsure if he should smirk or blush. A weird combination of both ended up happening, and he let his face sink in the crook of his arm, his eyes wide as he strained his neck for a better look. A bead of sweat dripped down from his hair line and traced the lightning shaped scar over his eye. His eyebrow twitched. He didn't care.

Above him, Mira had resorted to leaning all the way over his back to treat his left side, and her upper half was now resting on his back while her sweat dripped onto his muscles, mixing with his blood in intricate swirls and patterns. Her skin was strikingly pale against his, almost glowing in the orange light flooding through the windows while beads of salty liquid traced the outline of her collar bone a slid further down to her breast, which were still squished against the dragon slayers back. He could only stare, the tiniest tint of red clouding his damp cheeks like a thunder storm as he watched the demon work above him, her gentle features contorted with concern and annoyance as she stretched to reach around his rib cage. Her bright sapphire eyes were glowing with determination as bits of white hair glued themselves to her furrowed brow, and the dragon slayer detected the slightest bits of fondness in her eyes as she ran her tiny fingers over his back. At least, he hoped that's what it was.

After a few more minutes of the demon struggling to complete her job and wrap several rolls of gauze around the dragon slayer's large chest, she pulled herself off of the dragon and let out a sigh. The warmth from where she had been lingered only slightly, which Laxus noted with just a hint of disappointment.

"There we go." The demon mage said gently. "I'm sorry it was so rough. It's been a while, you know, since I had to…" She trailed off, her cerulean eyes caught in the orange orbs of the dragon slayer.

After a pause, the blonde grunted and pulled himself off of the floor and into a sitting position as crossing his legs. His eyes were closed lazily as his lips were quirked. "Nah, it's fine. It feels a little better now." He paused and licked his dry lips, opening his eyes. "I guess you don't deal much with wounds anymore now that you don't go off hunting trouble all the damn time." He added with a faint smirk.

The white haired mage smiled slightly and folded her hands in her lap. "Yes, you're right. But Elfman still gets pretty banged up once in a while, so I'm not _too _rusty." There was an awkward pause as both S-class mages avoided looking at each other. Mira broke the silence, her eyes perking up with curiosity. "What about you, Laxus? I can't imagine this is the first time you've been hurt like this. Do you treat yourself?"

The blonde dragon slayer nodded, relaxing slightly. "Most of the time, yeah. But, uh… Sometimes Freed helps out." He paused and mulled over something before a smirk spread over his face. "Ever ain't half bad herself, but she hates blood so much she's practically helpless when we're recovering." His smirk widened.

"Bixlow is just an idiot."

The demon mage smiled at this, studying the dragon slayer's content features for a moment. His eyes had closed again, and his bare chest rose and fell softly, with the faintest of a gentle smile playing with the corners of his mouth.

_Gentle?_

Mira leaned her head to one side, an innocently understanding glow in her big eyes. "They really mean a lot to you, don't they?" She said quietly, almost to herself. The dragon slayer peeked one eye open, a faint blush spreading over his cheeks when he realized the barmaid was staring at him.

He grunted a reply, looking off to the side. "Yeah, I guess. We've been through a lot together, y'know?"

The demon mage nodded slightly, her eyes soft while she absent mindedly played with the corner of her dress. "Yeah…" She trailed, leaving the dragon slayer to follow her. Surprisingly, he did.

"You too, right?"

Mira looked up, her eyes wide as the blonde man stared hard at her, his face suddenly serious. "Those little kiddies of yours adore the hell out of you. I swear, sometimes even _I'm _afraid of what would happen to whatever poor bastard makes you upset." He paused and fidgeted slightly, his beady orange eyes finding the ground. After a pause, he grunted and smiled slightly, closing his eyes again and folding his large arms over his damp chest. "I guess we've got a responsibility to them, huh? If something happened to one of us, they'd probably just sit around all day terrified of the world. I can't always be as reckless as I was today. I don't need them chasing after forbidden and trying to bring me back from the dead, the idiots."

Mira could only stare, somewhat shocked at the blonde man. She was pretty sure that was the longest conversation she'd had with him with getting completely ticked off, and something about his voice was warm and soothing. She wondered why she hadn't realized it before. With a little sigh of contentment, the demon mage leaned back on her hands and relaxed, a deep sense of understanding spreading through her chest. There was both a great deal of difference between her and arrogant blonde and a great deal of similarity. If you looked to their cores, they would be nearly identical, but it was how they portrayed themselves and how carried on through every day that made them and _kept _them worlds apart. But still, the demon mage couldn't help but pick out the similarities and smile at them. Both her and the dragon slayer were based off of the same things: The people who were most important to them. For Mirajane, it was the two pairs of blue eyes that looked to her for almost everything in every situation. For Laxus, it was his team, who he had somehow become the caretaker of. However, the way they went about taking care of them was where their main differences came from. While the demon mage preferred being gentle and playing mom to her younger siblings, the dragon slayer was more comfortable being rough and teasing and driving his team forward with sheer force. _How strange… _Mira thought idly, her eyes still running over the features of the blonde man across from her. _He's so full of… Care. _

What? Laxus Dreyar possessed the ability to _care _about something besides himself? Impossible.

Right?

After a few minutes of comforting silence, the light form the window had disappeared, leaving the two S-class mages in the old lightning of the cabin, which was surprisingly clear compared to the orangey glow of the sunset.

Laxus peek an eye open, his lip curling downward disapprovingly at the demon mage, who was distractedly looking out the window at the faint specks of starlight that were just barely starting to come out. "They should be back soon." She said softly, sweetly, unaware of the dragon slayer closing in on her.

The blonde mage reached out his large, rough hand and grabbed a few strands of the barmaids snowy hair, fingering them lightly. The tips of the soft fibers were spotted with red and drippy with a mixture of her sweat and his blood. The dragon slayer made a face.

"My blood got in your hair." He stated dumbly, raising a brow as the small, soft pieces of hair gentle fell around his big fingers. Mira reached out her pale hand and gentle placed it on top of his, making him jump a little.

"It's fine, Laxus." She said sweetly, taking back the strands of her hair, which fell willingly from the dragon slayer's slack fist.

Laxus grunted absently and turned, raising his brow and scanning over the mess of bowls and bottles of medicine scattered around them. After a pause, his eyes settled on one and he carefully reached for it, mindful of his wound. He brought the small bowl to his face and sniffed it, dipping his fingers in it and reaching for Mira's hair again. This time, he rubbed the fibers together, briefly pondering over the soft yet scratching feeling of the strands smashing against each other. A mixture of blood, sweat and water dripped through his fingers and down his wrist, making their way through the maze of veins and muscles in his large arm. Within a few seconds, the demon mage's hair was clean and pure again, albeit a little wet.

Laxus released the hair wiped his hand on his pants, staring intently at the barmaid.

"There." He said, grinning faintly. "That pretty face of yours just wasn't the same with blood anywhere near it." His tone was mocking, but the demon mage ignored it, focusing instead on the genuine glow in his small, fiery eyes. She appreciated the gesture, and smiled to let him know. He looked off to the side in response, his smile gone and a small blush forming on his cheeks.

_How cute. _The demon mage thought idly, her motherly side peeking out.

There was a knock at the door, and both S-class mages were ripped from their thoughts.

"Well, I guess they're back." Mira said happily, a smile on her face.

As she got up to answer the door, Laxus sat back quietly, frowning slightly.

Part of him wished they could stay together a little longer.

….

After an extremely loud and eventful dinner, along with an even louder clean-up, the seven mages were all getting ready for bed, which had proved to be an event in itself. Seven people in a three-person cabin wasn't really known to go over well, though.

Evergreen was sitting on the couch reading her book when it happened, and she was as unsuspecting as anyone else in the house.

The fairy mage had her legs folded gracefully and her chin was resting in the dough of her hand while she lovingly fingered the pages of her book. In front of her, Bixlow and freed were preparing their 'beds' for the night while Laxus was in the shower. On the chair to her right was Elfman, who was fumbling with some seashells he'd picked up on the beach, a stupid smile on his face that seriously irritated the fairy mage. Lisanna was in the kitchen putting away the few leftovers that had managed to survive, and Mira was wandering around the room handing out blankets to the Thunder God tribe.

When the demon mage walked by the busty woman she smiled, her arms loaded with blankets. "You know, Evergreen, me and Lisanna could share a room if you don't want to sleep out here with three men. We don't mind at all." From the kitchen, Lisanna nodded feverishly, to push the point further. Both takeover sisters had already discussed it.

Evergreen clamped the book shut and smiled slightly, straightening her glasses. "That's quite alright, Mira. We've been on too many missions together for me to start getting picky now."

From his spot on the floor, Bixlow grinned and jumped up, plopping down next to the fairy mage and throwing a lanky arm around her shoulders. "Besides," He said, a toothy grin plastered on his face. "I'm sure Ever here would _much _rather spend the night in Elfman's bed! Ahahaha!" He let out a roar of laughter before Evergreen reached up and promptly smacked him in the head with her book, which shut him up surprisingly easily. However, a deep blush had formed on both the fairy mage and the takeover mage beside her, and they both sneered at each other. "As if I would ever want to be near that snoring oaf." She said, pretending to straighten her glasses and actually trying to mask her blush.

"Then maybe I'll just spend the night in Mira's bed and save Lisanna the trouble." Came a cool voice from the entrance to the hall.

It was out before he could stop it.

Laxus stood in the doorway of the hall, wearing a plain, lavender t-shirt and loose black pants. His hands were holding onto the ends of a towel that was wrapped around his large neck, although his fist had gone slack from what he'd said. Around him, his teammates stared in horror, and Elfman looked like he was about ready to explode. He didn't _want _to know what Mira looked like.

Just before all hell broke loose, Lisanna sweat-dropped from the kitchen. "How would that save me any trouble…?"

After that, lots of things happened at once. Laxus could, dear God help him, he could just _not _manage to hide his blush, and his teammates were at his side in a flash to point this out.

"L-Laxus! How could you say something like that? I-I want to share a bed with you!"

"Geez, boss! Fallin' for the beautiful Mirajane, huh? Nice!"

"Ooooo! He's blushing! My, my… Laxus, you'd better not let her oaf of a brother rub off on you!"

While Laxus was doing his best to get his teammates to _shut the hell up_, Bixlow was busy formulating a plan that only could manage to pull off. Once he put the finishing touches on his strategy, the visible part of his face broke out into a grin and he clapped a hand on Evergreen's shoulder, which silenced the room and thoroughly annoyed the woman. "Ha! I've got an idea." His grin darkened slightly, but only enough for Laxus to notice and get worried about exactly _what _the soul mage was planning. "We're all stuck in the same cabin together, so why don't we make things a little more _fun?"_

"Fun! Fun! Fun!" His babies echoed.

The room got tense, and the group of mages scrutinized the soul mage, their brows raised with a mixture of confusion and worry. Freed was the first to break the silence, learning from years of experience that when Bixlow had an idea, it was better to just get it all over with as quickly as possible. Like ripping off a band-aid.

The rune mage shut his eyes and let out a puff. "What is it?"

Bixlow's grin turned into a dangerous smirk and he paced to the center of the room. "Let's play a game tonight." Without leaving a beat for questions, he continued. "I say, that for tonight we should all share beds!"

There was a collective deadpan, before Mirajane placed a hand on the enthusiastic soul mage's shoulder and smiled slightly. "I think we were already going to do that, Bixlow." She said gently. The Thunder God Tribe man returned her smile before carefully brushing off her hand and continuing.

"Not that way, Mira. I think that tonight we should give Fairy Tail's couples a chance to enjoy themselves a bit. Hahaha!" He shot a pointed grin to Elfman and Evergreen, who turned tomato red at the attention. Mirajane, ever the match-maker, perked up at this and grinned devilishly.

"Oh? I suppose that does sound like it could be _fun." _She said, her long, snowy curls bouncing as she folded her hands behind her back and smiled sweetly at her younger brother. "Don't you think so, Elfman?"

At this, the male Strauss turned a shade darker, which really shouldn't have been possible. "B-Big sis! You too?"

"Mirajane, you can't possibly be serious. If you expect me to spend even more than ten minutes in a bed with that man, I'll be forced to question your sanity." Evergreen added, her hand still against her glasses trying to hide her reddening face.

The demon mage smiled and nodded, placing her hand back on Bixlow's shoulder once again. "No, I think this is a good idea. A very, very good idea."

Bixlow looked down at her small hand and smiled, almost apologetically. "So, you agree, Mira?" The Strauss nodded happily. "Alright, no take backs! Although, now that that's settled, you should know… This game applies to everyone." He grinned as the small hand slipped off of his shoulder, although the demon mage's glare made him rethink his plan, if only a little bit. The soul mage swallowed his doubt and continued, although he was just a little bit _less _enthusiastic. "Right, well, uh… Anyway, there are only three beds, so someone's gonna hafta go it alone." He folded his arms and Freed stepped up, his eyes closed in an annoyed yet dignified way.

"If you think I'm going to share a bed with you, you're sadly mistaken."

At his friend's gentlemanly attitude, Bixlow cracked a smirk and his babies danced around him with mirth. "Sorry, Freed. You're out this round." He paused, chuckling slightly. "Why don't you go find _Cana?"_

At that, the rune mage froze, a splash of red washing onto his pale cheeks. His normally calm face went blank, and he promptly turned, straightened his collar, and walked out the door.

There was a pause.

"Well, uh…" Evergreen's brow twitched and she lowered her hand. "He certainly didn't need to be told twice."

…..

After another awkward pause and then a few more minutes of Bixlow explaining his rules, the "pairs" stood next to each other, each one looking either uncomfortable or extremely annoyed.

"Alright," The soul mage started, a little less than enthusiastic now due to the glares he was getting handed from all sides. "So, we have Evergreen and Elfman, me and Lisanna, and Laxus and Mirajane, since Boss was so nice to say that's what he wanted." Bixlow let out a nervous laugh and placed a hand on Lisanna's shoulder, smiling down at her apologetically. "I'm sorry about this." He said quietly. "I'll sleep on the floor if you want, I just needed a good excuse to get these guys together." At that, the youngest Strauss smiled warmly and nodded her head, her short hair bobbing gently.

"Excuse me, Bixlow." Evergreen interrupted, looking at her 'partner' with distain. "Why exactly do we have to do this?"

At that, the mage laughed and placed a hand on his mask, threatening to lift it. "If you don't, I'll make you! Ahahaha! And, if you leave the bed and come out here, you have to sleep outside for a week!"

Evergreen made a face. "That's starting to sound welcoming…" She muttered, casting a sideways glance to Elfman, who was still red in the face. He was at a loss.

From a quiet corner across the room, Laxus rubbed the back of his neck nervously and let out a defeated sigh. Beside him, Mira was standing perfectly still, her slim arms folded loosely under her chest and her eyes closed in annoyance while her brow twitched just enough to let the dragon slayer know that he was in trouble.

The blonde man looked down at the tiny woman, a contemplative look on his face before he went aloof. "Look, Mira, uh… I'm sorry about this." There was no response.

Oh, but how very sorry he was.

.

.

.

Not.

**Ugh, I feel like the ending really sucked, I'm sorry ^^"" I'm still getting used to writing so many people together at once… But, I promise I'll get better~! J Oh! And thank you guys for pointing out my grammar mistakes, hehe… I really appreciate it :3 And, um, I-I'm sorry that my writing style is so shaky ^^" Thank you guys tons for bearing with me so far! Next chapter they'll hafta spend a night together, ohonhonhon~ :3 B-But nothing bad is gonna happen, hehe… I'm, uh… I'm a good little girl XD (HAHAHAHA) **

**Oh! And yeah, I totally ship Freed and Cana XD I don't know why, I just feel like it works somehow. I think they'd get along with the whole "My father person ditched me" thing, 'cause of when Laxus was exiled and Gildarts was… being Gildarts. Ah…. I dunno XD I'm just rambling! Thank you again fro reading~!**

**~Kishi**


	5. Close Enough to Get Caught

**Goodness gracious… I just read over that last chapter, and there were a LOT of spelling/grammar errors, huh? ^^""" I'm sorry. I'm always in a hurry to a post a chapter, so I don't get a chance to read over it for a while…. Ah, I'll read over this one, though ^^ After all, I can't let my grammar nazi status get revoked, right? Haha.**

**Oh! And I'm so thankful for all the reviews! I love you guys so much *Huggles all of you* And I'm glad to see that there are lots of fellow Freed/Cana shippers out there ;) **

**Anyway, onto chapter five! :D **

Mirajane Strauss was not a woman who liked to fight. She did not enjoy being angry. Besides her regular match-making antics, she wasn't partial to gossip and did not entertain the idea of friends talking badly about each other. Above all, she most certainly did not like to complain.

She was undeniably, however, a demon. And demons _did, _despite their best intentions, end up complaining profusely in their own distinct way.

This was something that Laxus Dreyar was about to learn.

The blonde had just finished preparing himself for the night (which he was positive was going to be long and interesting and very tiring) before he stopped and rested his large, shirtless shoulder on the doorway to Mira's room, which for some reason he was having a ridiculously hard time entering. Then again, he figured it would be a little weird if he was totally fine walking into a sleeping woman's room in the middle of the night to get in her bed. Not that he was opposed to it, of course, but something about the eldest Strauss made him want to… wait. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy her company, or even that he'd ruled out the possibility, but he wanted to enjoy _more _of her. He wanted to find out exactly who the demon was, what brought her to life, and what filled those sapphire pools with so much _passion, _and he didn't want anything holding him back.

It wasn't exactly love, _at least not yet_, but it was an intense curiosity, and that was close enough for now.

For some reason, that thought sent a drop of contentment into the dragon slayer's heart, and its tiny ripples spread through his whole body, sending a chill down his spine.

A murmur from the bed caught him, and his eyes widen as his head snapped up in attention. Across the room from him, Mirajane was curled on her hip, one arm huddled under her side and the other bent so that her fingers had partially tangled themselves in the soft, thin white strands of her hair, which had been released from her ponytail and now hung like half-drawn curtains over her eyes. The curls were still intact, despite the damp night air, and they sprawled around the elegant woman in long, graceful patterns and swirls, weaving and falling over her slender shoulders and framing a perfect, smooth face. Glowing in the weary hall light, her features had softened, and her flushed lips had parted just enough to let a few whispers slip out.

The blonde man tilted forward slightly, straining his sensitive ears to make out the soft-spoken words. But no matter how intently he listened, he could _not_ get himself to understand, and just as quickly as it had come, the whisper was gone past him like a fading breeze, the pale lips curved up in a content smile. He wasn't disappointed, though, which surprised him. No, the relaxed, peaceful expression the woman had acquired spoke so clearly he could almost hear it _singing_ to him. It was an infectious cure-all, and he had to admit, he was in dire need.

It couldn't be helped. His feet had started moving unconsciously towards her, softly, quietly, closer… closer… _closer. _He had to be closer. He needed to see her face, to drink in the pale, ivory smoothness of her skin, to understand _why_ she was so filled with such content and passionate life. Before he realized it, he was directly in front of her sleeping face, and his long, thick shadow rained over her tiny form. His heart was pounding now, thudding through his whole body loud enough that he was afraid he would wake her. He didn't even know what he was thinking anymore, but something had captured him, and it refused to let go. Why did she make him feel so… safe? So afraid? His expression of wide-eyed unawareness changed to a look of discomfort, his brow knitting itself together, and Laxus Dreyar stood there like a confused child, a certain part of him _wishing _that she would wake up and get mad at him, scold him, do anything. Guilt had crept into his chest and he needed something to take it away. He could feel it getting closer, _closer_, all of it sneaking up on him at once, like a monster hiding in the corner of his mind, waiting until he was distracted. Guilt, anger, frustration, and…

_"Laxus…?" _

He snapped to attention once again, his eyes now locked onto two very _awake _sapphires, which were filled with worry and confusion. The dragon slayer stared dumbly for a few seconds, and his jaw dropped slightly when he caught sight of his large, rough hand intertwined with several soft clumps of hair on the demon mage's head. _How did that get there…? _He wondered, still recovering from his thoughts as he quickly took back the hand and looked away, the slightest hint of a blush playing on his cheeks as he buried the accused limb deep in his pocket and continued staring at the wall, looking anywhere but at the woman in front of him. He only brought back down to her ivory skin, however, when she repeated his name, softer than before, and reached out her slender hand, letting her fingers brush over the muscles in his forearm in a concerned gesture.

"Laxus, is something wrong?" She asked gently, starting to sit up. He stopped her, however, and turned to face her with his back. His head was tilted downward, towards the cracks and swirls in the old wooden floor, and he studied them intently, both hands now shoved in his pockets while he mulled over his thoughts. He quickly faked back to himself, however, and shrugged, still staring at the floor. "You had something in your hair." He mumbled, trying his best to keep a cool, unfaltering tone. His voice quivered, though, and Mirajane Strauss was not one to miss those sorts of things, but she let it slide for that moment, only because the blonde man had already left her and made his way to the other side of the bed. It was then he noticed the wall of pillows built up to keep them on separate sides, and despite himself, he smirked.

She complained in the best way.

From across the mattress, said complainer had turned and was now lying on her back, her eyes glued to wooden rafters of the ceiling in deep thought. She felt the bed tilt towards the other side and her body shifted as the springs and support beams let out a few creaks and groans of protest while the dragon slayer climbed in and situated himself. There was a long, deep sigh, the distinct sound of hands running through hair, and then a long, still silence, and the woman resumed her thoughts. It was weird enough having Laxus in her room, but at least there was an explanation for it. There was, however, no explanation for waking up with him directly in front of her with his hand resting on her head. Why was he there? Did he honestly think she wouldn't wake up if he put that gargantuan hand on her? She was already on high alert considering that he was supposed to be _in her bed, _but even Laxus wasn't stupid enough to pull something like that and expect to get away with it. What was he _doing? _What was he thinking? The again, he probably wasn't thinking at all. But there was something there, something about him, that the woman could just _not _get out of her head. He had seemed so… lost.

Thinking for a few more seconds, Mira pinched her brow together and let out a sigh of defeat. She couldn't resist. She really couldn't. "Laxus?" She called softly, over her wall of pillows. From the other side, she heard the man let out a sigh before a large hand clamped down on one of the fluffy cushions and tossed it to the bottom of the bed. From the hole in the newly breached defense, Laxus stared back at her, his orange eyes cloudy and tired. His jaw was resting lazily in one hand, and his elbow was propped up in the crook between his pillow and the head board, and he was looking at her with a weird mixture of boredom and skepticism. He was confused, and when he was confused, social anything was at the very bottom of his list. And believe it or not, this was under his "social anything" category.

He blinked and arched his brow. "What is it?" He asked, and his shoulder relaxed a little under the concerned gaze of the snowy haired woman. _Safe. _

Said woman shifted, suddenly unable to find the correct thing to say. She honestly wasn't sure why she had called out to him in the first place, but something had latched onto her mind and she was positive she wouldn't be able to think properly until she figured the blonde man out. But, then again, what went on with Laxus was really none of her business, right? After all, he was thunder and lightning. Just the other night she had been protecting her little siblings from that, right? Wasn't Laxus someone who she had to be careful around? Someone she needed to be defensive towards? The barmaid shut her eyes and sighed through her nose, and she felt Laxus shift again. He was running out of patience.

"I was just wondering, Laxus, do you have enough room?" Her tone was sweet as always, soft and gentle, drippy with white lies.

The dragon slayer sighed and rolled onto his back, folding his muscled arms behind his head and closing his eyes. "You're a terrible liar."

The demon mage scrunched up her brow and made a face. _How could he tell? _She wondered, edging a bit closer to the dragon slayer, whose face was now hidden behind the top tier of the pillow wall. This time, it was her turn. She reached up and curled her thin fingers around the pillow and moved it, twisting her body around to put it behind her. It pressed against her back, pushing her closer to the blonde man. He peeked open one eye and stared at her.

"What's going on, Laxus? You're not being yourself." Her voice had softened considerably, and she looked up to the dragon slayer with a mixture of concern and sadness. Laxus raised a brow at this and sighed, resuming his previous position to face her, his orange eyes drilling into hers as he studied the tender scrunch of her worried features. Their faces were dangerously close now, but they didn't seem to notice. They had captured each other.

No going back now, right?

"I mean, normally you're so… you. There's just no stopping it. Why not now? Isn't this the perfect opportunity for you to say something crude and sarcastic?" Her tone was just gentle enough to keep her words from being hurtful. She was _very _good at complaining.

The dragon slayer smirked at this and shut his eyes, letting out an amused grunt. "It's nice to know you've got such a high opinion of me." At that, the demon mage tried to protest, but he stopped her and kept trudging through. "I don't blame you, y'know. I'm not really recognized as saint." He thought for a moment and his smirk widened, although his brow twitched. "Freed would disagree." He mused.

Mira smiled warmly and leaned her head on her pillow, reaching up and placing a hand on the blonde's large shoulder. It quietly perched there, like a dove on a mountain top, protective and brave, but still so gentle and kind. "You really do love them, don't you?"

Laxus's shoulders tensed, but they relaxed quickly as he let out a content sigh. "Yeah." He smiled slightly, something daring him to go on even though he didn't have much to say. He went with the first thing he thought of, despite the fact that it really didn't go with their conversation and was (as he would realize when he was finished) pretty embarrassing.

"You know, the first mission we went on after I… I came back, we had to spend a night in the cargo car of a train. We all picked our spots and went to bed, but when I woke up they were all huddled around me. I swear to god it was the most ridiculous damn thing they've ever pulled." He paused and quirked his brow. "Then again, they're all pretty crazy bastards." At that, the demon mage giggled, and pulled her hand back, curling it under her chest. Laxus smiled slightly down at her, but then his expression turned serious. "Oi, you know I'm… I'm uh, I'm sorry Bixlow started this. I swear he won't even touch your sister. I lectured the hell outta him in the hall." He grinned. "Besides, I doubt he wants to face the demon Mirajane. Plus he knows I'd beat the crap out of him."

The barmaid smiled before a thought struck her and she leaned towards the thunder mage. "I lectured Elfman, too. You don't have anything to worry about. If he did anything with Ever right now, I wouldn't go easy on him."

"What do you mean 'right now'?"

"We have to keep the future in mind." She winked.

After that, the two S-class mages stayed up talking about useless things for almost an hour before finally falling asleep, although they were much closer than they had been before, and they were still, undoubtedly, _captured._

Needless to say, the pillow wall was completely dismantled by the end of the night.

_No need for defense now, right? _

…..

The next morning, Mira awoke to an empty bed, which for some reason made her feel a little hurt (she would never admit it). Of course, when she heard water running from down the hall in the bathroom, she couldn't deny the wave of relief that spread over her.

_He didn't run off again. That's good. _

After slipping into a cute, pale blue sundress, the demon mage made her way down the hall and headed straight towards the main room of the house. Of course, that was _after _sneaking a peek at Elfman and Evergreen, who she was happy to note were still in bed, curled up against each other.

Ah, the joys of a matchmaker.

She had been tempted to peek in at Lisanna and Bixlow, but their door had been wide open and no one was inside, so she assumed that they were already up and just being exceptionally quiet. When she finally did make it to the living room, however, the two mages were nowhere to be seen, and the woman felt her chest tighten instinctively. She tried to stifle her anxiety, though, when she noticed Freed sitting quietly on the couch with a book in his hand and a calm, non-crisis look on his face. She couldn't help being worried about her baby sister disappearing with a relatively weird soul mage, though. After all, Bixlow wasn't exactly known for having an outstanding status as a gentleman.

When the green haired man caught sight of her, he shut his book softly and smiled, standing to greet the woman. "Why, good morning, Mirajane. I do hope you slept well." He said, with just a hint of jealously in his normally calm voice.

The demon mage smiled and nodded briskly, still trying to mask her worry. "Good morning, Freed. I hope you and Cana had a nice time." She tried to ignore his massive blush. "Have you seen Lisanna and Bixlow?"

Shaking the heat from his cheeks, the rune mage nodded, sitting back down and opening his book. "They went to the resort to buy soemthing to make breakfast. They said that they assumed everyone else would sleep late." He glanced over at the clock, then the open window. "Actually, they should be back soon. I think that's them coming up the road."

At that, the oldest Strauss made her way over to the window and peeked out, spotting two distinct figures on the thin drit path, the sun casting long shadows in front of them.

Lisanna was laughing and holding Bixlow's "dolls", (which were lifelessly stacked in her arms) while grocery bags floated playfully around her head, spilling out a lone carrot every now and then. Next to her, the soul mage was talking animatedly, his tongue sticking out in joy as he spoke and laughed.

Mira smiled warmly, and although she was feeling very happy and content, only one thing was going through her head.

_Damn._ _Too fast._

…..

After breakfast, Elfman and Evergreen arguing, Laxus being Laxus and Mira taking note of him, the seven mages had made their way down to the beach to watch over the tourists, and in an attempt to blend in, they had all crowded together on a large blanket under the only free umbrella, and they were invested in _trying_ to look normal. Which, with the Thunder God Tribe, was proving to be a little more difficult than it should have been, especially after Bixlow had taken off his mask in a debate of whether or not his face was more 'normal' than the hunk of metal. It was a tough call. Chaos erupted.

On the edge of the blanket, away from the torrent of mages, Laxus was sitting with his knees pulled up as elbow rests and his hands clasped in front of him. He was wearing a pale yellow shirt that was just light and thin enough to let specks of his tattoo show through and dark purple swimming shorts that Freed had suggested.

He let out a sigh. He was bored, and frankly, he was tired of it. It was one thing to go on vacation to a beachside resort and have fun gambling and eating and doing whatever, but it was another thing to be on a _mission_ at a beachside resort and have fun doing _whatever. _

One was filled with guilt.

Suddenly, the dragon slayer smelled something _extremely _sweet, and he looked up to see Mira smiling and standing over him. She was clad in a black bikini that clashed recklessly against her snowy hair which was pulled up in an old, demon-Mira ponytail. The dragon slayer cocked a smirk at it as the woman took a seat next to him and smiled sweetly.

"Hello, Laxus. Why are you over here all by yourself?"

He raised his brow at her quick inquiry and shrugged, nodding his head in the direction of other five mages, who were caught up in some sort of intense dispute. The barmaid nodded her understanding and pulled her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around them loosely. Sensing the approach of awkward silence, the Strauss tilted back her head and searched the sky, then turned back to the blonde man and opened her mouth to speak.

"—How long do you think the average girl can hold her breath?" She was cut off by the dragon slayer, who was staring intently at the ocean, his brow arched slightly. The barmaid recoiled from the randomness of his question and blinked, but quickly regained her sense and put a finger on her chin in thought.

She furrowed her brow and shrugged. "I'm not sure. Probably no more than one minute, though. Why?"

Laxus stood and sighed, arching his back in a stretch. "Some girl went under about three and a half minutes ago." He replied coolly, peeling off his shirt and making his way towards the shoreline. _At least I'm not bored._

Behind him, Mira sputtered before getting up and walking calmly after him. She caught up a little too quickly, and figured that the dragon slayer must have been lagging.

"Laxus! Where are you going?" It was Freed's voice. The rune mage was waving his arm and running towards the two S-class mages, his green hair bouncing with his step.

Of course, the rest of the group followed.

Laxus could only grimace.

….

After a few minutes of swimming, yelling, and Laxus nearly electrocuting all of them, the seven mages were bobbing in the deeper part of the ocean, all looking confused and somewhat annoyed.

Elfman and Evergreen got caught up in an argument and Freed, Bixlow and Lisanna had grouped together and were talking calmly. Mira, of course, was left with Laxus, who was scowling at his warped reflection in the water. She tried to be as gentle as she could.

"Laxus, are you sure she didn't come back up? Maybe she swam off somewhere else and surfaced."

The dragon slayer furrowed his brow and gritted his teeth, clenching and unclenching his fist in the water. "Damn…"

Lisanna, sensing the discomfort, quickly swam up to the two older mages and smiled lightly. "Here, Laxus, I'll go under and look, okay?" She smirked innocently and splashed her newly formed tail in the water. The dragon slayer raised his brow, but nodded, while Mira smiled proudly at her younger sister. Takeover magic was as useful as always.

The youngest Strauss dove down and quickly disappeared, leaving only a few ripples behind in her place. There was a long silence as they all focused their attention on the spot where she had been.

A minute went by.

Two.

Five.

By now, Mira was starting to worry. In fact, it was so evident that the other mages had stopped looking at Lisanna's stop and were now all staring at the barmaid with faces filled with concern. Bixlow tried to play it off, and even sent his babies to dance around the Strauss's downcast head, but she was despondent. They were all quiet.

"Hey, sis, how about I go after her?" It was Elfman who broke the silence, looking at his sister with the desperate look a child gets when their mother is upset. Of course, the last thing the demon mage wanted at that moment was for both of her younger siblings to be away from her, but she didn't have time to protest, and the muscular Strauss was gone within a few seconds. He couldn't stand that worried look she had. He needed to find Lisanna, for both their sakes.

"I'm going too." Evergreen mumbled, and she quickly disappeared after Elfman.

Laxus raised her brow at where she had been, but shrugged it off. After a few more minutes, tension was thick.

"I have to go." Mira said, shattering the thin layer of silence that had fallen. All eyes went to her, and Laxus nodded.

"Freed, Bixlow."

They returned the nod and dove down, leaving the two S-classes alone. Laxus raised his brow. "Well, go on. I'll be right behind you, so, uh… you'll be fine." He stuttered awkwardly. The demon mage swallowed hard and nodded, too worried to notice the sweet gesture.

They both took a breath.

They both went down.

Neither one came back up.

**Oooooh, goodness gracious, I totally lost the end… I was actually going to cut it off sooner, but then it would be too short, and the chapter would kinda be pointless, so I figured I'd kick-start the plot a little bit… **

**Ugh.**

**Anyway, please excuse my awful description towards the end XD I really wanted to get this chapter out for you guys. And OMIGOSH. Thank you guys again SO MUCH for the support this thing is getting! I totally feel like I suck for not getting very good quality chapters out with all the time I'm taking between updates, but you guys have still supported me TwT Aq;wirbf;qober What is this. I don't desrve this kindness. *Loves you all* **

**Oh, and, uh… You guys, I'm, um... I'm not even old enough to drive ^^" I am sosososo sorry for you guys who want M-rated stuff, but I really can't… I mean, I don't know how to… It just… It's not something I can do right now ^^""" *Cough*Ormaybeeverhehehehe*Cough* Anywho, I was tempted to have them kiss or something while they were in bed, but I don't think it's in either of their characters to just do that so soon, so I'm sorry if that's what you wanted. Don't worry, they'll be in plenty of situations like that again )**

**Thank you all so much for reading!**

**~Kishi**


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